The second installment of the Wolverine’s origin story begins with the maverick mutant hiding in a deep well in Japan as an atomic bomb falls on Nagasaki. Faster than you can say “mushroom cloud,” Wolverine rescues a lone Japanese soldier, Yashida, who will go on to spend the rest of his long life obsessing over the mutation that keeps the feral Wolverine forever young.

From there, the plot grows too convoluted to understand, or worse, to care about. Not even Hugh Jackman’s abs and arms of steel can make up for the two hours wasted on this big-budget, 3-D comic book spectacle.

And, that’s a disappointment for those of us who dig superhero flicks. With James Mangold (“Knight & Day”) directing, I entered with high hopes, but “The Wolverine” emerges as all style and no substance. Kudos, though, to a sensational action sequence set atop a speeding bullet train, where Logan battles a pack of malevolent mafiosos. The movie could use more of that kind of imagination.

After years hiding in the woods and stewing over his demons, Wolverine (aka Logan) honors Yashida’s (Hal Yamanouchi) death-bed wish for him to come to Japan so he can finally thank him for saving his life.

What Yashida really wants, however, is to get his hands on Logan’s skeleton, which consists of the strongest metal on Earth, Adamantium, and features three talons on each hand that retract into his arms at will. Logan, mutton chops and all, is hard to kill and Yashida wants to (literally) suck the eternal life out of him.

To do that, he employs Viper, played by the campy, but otherwise forgettable, Russian actress Svetlana Khodchenkova. Safe to say, Viper is no Selina Kyle.

Between the “X-Men” and “Wolverine” franchises, Jackman – the titular wolf in scant clothes – has played the character six times and it’s beginning to show. This is his least charismatic outing. On the flipside, Rila Fukushima, as Jackman’s spunky sidekick, Yukio, is terrific, knows her way around a Samurai sword, and has more chemistry with Jackman than newcomer Tao Okamoto, playing the woman in peril and Logan’s rote love interest.

Speaking of characters, there are a lot. That might be great for the inevitable video game, but not for moviegoers. How many thugs, goons, ninjas, sons, boyfriends, grandsons, snipers, and villains does one movie need? Give me a comic book adaptation that breaks the mold, not one I need to claw my way through.

Page 2 of 2 - Dana Barbuto may be reached at dbarbuto@ledger.com or follow her on Twitter @danabarbuto.